A Treasury for Mélodie

Origins of the French Mélodie

In Germany the culture of Art Song was well established by 1830. Schubert (who died young in 1828) had left his wonderful legacy of song and these were beginning to be known in Parisian circles by the 1830s and 40s, playing an important part in the development of the Mélodie. Later Schumann’s songs too were to have an important influence on Fauré’s production, but it would be wrong to consider French song as being derived from the German Lied tradition. The Lied has its origins in German Folk Song, whereas Mélodie was exclusively the domain of aristocratic society. The Bourgeois salon, where the poetry reading was a favourite pastime, was also home to the precursors of Mélodie, the “Romance” (a simple strophic love song) and the “Scène” (grander and rather more melodramatic in character than the Romance). Simplicity of style and lack of technical demand were important, partly through taste and partly to accommodate the amateur singers for whom they were written. There was a continuous demand for new songs, and prolific composers could make a respectable living without necessarily having created anything that would stand the test of time. Almost as important as the music were the etchings on the covers issued with the songs!

Already certain qualities that were to develop in the Mélodie can be discerned – the fluidity of the melodic line which is so appropriate for the French language, and some care in word setting (prosody). The Romance was always set to cloyingly sweet texts, written to be sung and rarely of any great literary value. Unskilful settings of a greater text (as in Lamartine’s Le Lac) would often result in denaturing the poetry.

The fame of Schubert’s songs spread through French society to a large degree through their being performed by Adolphe Nourrit, the most famous tenor of the Romatic era and a favourite of Rossini. The story is told of his meeting with Liszt, where he heard the latter play a piano arrangement of Schubert’s Erlkönig. Nourrit then commissioned translations of the text of this and several other songs, which he was to perform in salons. His sense of drama surely suited these compositions. (However his theatrical career was in decline. He was in poor health and his great tenor rival, Gilbert Duprez had discovered a new technique to access high notes without recourse to falsetto. He travelled to Naples to study with Donizetti, but he became depressed, and finally he jumped to his death from his hotel in Naples in 1839, aged 37). After the death of their early champion, more translations of better quality further enhanced the renown of Schubert’s songs.

Certain German composers were to try their hand at composing French songs. Giacomo Meyerbeer, a successful operatic composer, wrote songs in his own style – following the popular Italian operatic styles. This was a procedure that Rossini was later to employ to more lasting effect – the Italian retired early from composing operas and settled in Paris where he had his own salon. He indulged his passion for food and wrote some chamber songs for private entertainment.

Wagner too wrote a few songs for the French salon – using the fashionable Romance as his model. In an altogether different league are the songs of Liszt. He wrote a handful of extremely fine French songs in a Lied style all of his own, choosing texts by important poets such as Victor Hugo. His literary taste was demonstrated by the subsequent use of many of the same texts by later composers. It is unlikely that many of these composers knew of his works though, as they were technically challenging and languished unheard for many decades.

The first significant French composer to try and develop a worthwhile French Art Song was Hector Berlioz. In his early songs, though close to the Romance, he is already seen to be trying to free himself from established procedures. Amongst these are nine settings of French translations of Thomas Moore’s Irish Melodies. These poems, related to the Irish revolt, had passionate echoes on the continent. Published under the title Neuf mélodies, these songs are often quoted as the first to carry the name “Mélodie”. Whilst they are largely forgotten, his masterpiece, Les nuits d’été, remains perhaps one of the most popular works of French vocal music. It is a collection of six songs, originally composed with piano accompaniment, but which benefit from his wonderful understanding of the orchestra in his orchestrated version. The texts are by Théophile Gautier, another poet to have been remembered in his own right. The first song of the collection, Villanelle, is a strophic song and relatively simple. The beauty of the melody and the care lavished on prosody arguably make it the most successful song of the collection. Some of the later songs do become rather melodramatic.

Fauré and Poulenc were later to hold Charles Gounod as the true architect of the Mélodie by establishing a benchmark for prosody. Choosing quality texts from a range of sources, and with impeccable grace, he created a handful of exquisite songs – though his considerable output is still of uneven quality. In Le soir we see a two-verse strophic song in which he delicately modifies the melody to suit the setting of the words. Here Lamartine’s fluidity is matched at last! Gounod’s literary culture is demonstrated in the range of his choice of texts. In setting de Baïf’s O ma belle rebelle he finds a medieval character to match the text by placing a counter-melody in the bass of the piano accompaniment.

The operatic composer Georges Bizet did not share Gounod’s taste for the intimate, but nevertheless wrote several worthwhile songs. In many ways these can bee seen as studies for operatic production and he rarely can resist adding a final vocal flourish. He finds his greatest success when setting texts with an oriental inspiration – an influence which was felt by numerous mid-century French composers.

Examples:
Guitare - Lalo
Oh, quand je dors - Lalo

It is interesting to see the similarities in these songs and those of the older composer.

Leo Delibes is remembered for one song which is still frequently performed by sopranos looking for something a little more flamboyant – Les filles de Cadix. Camille Saint-Saëns also wrote numerous finely crafted which are still performed.

Jules Massenet, a composer whose operas are still widely performed, had a gift for setting words and handling the voice. He composed many songs and one might have thought he would make a fine song-writer. He wrote for the masses, however, and his songs tend to be grandiloquently sentimental. He was of course the toast to Parisian society and the songs were hugely popular. A few are regaining popularity, such as his famous Élégie and Crépuscule.

Perhaps the first great Master of the genre was Fauré, whose earliest songs show the profound of Gounod.